Description
IVAR MEDAAS – IN 4 ACTS (1968)
Ivar Medaas was one of the most important artists from Western Norway in recent times. He was one of the champions of the New Norwegian language and a pioneer in the field of street culture. His juggling on stage made him nationally known in the 1960s, and many of his compositions have become milestones in the Norwegian folk song tradition. As an artist, he managed to shape his own original expression by combining Norwegian folk music with songs and performing this in a revue-like form, where the serious goes hand in hand with the frivolous. Medaas grew up on his parents' farm in Alversund outside Bergen, and since he was a nobleman's son, there was never any doubt that he would continue to run his father's farm. He attended agricultural school in Stend in Hordaland and became a member of the Bondeungdomslaget. In 1960, he went to Oslo to attend the Winter Agricultural School, and here his interest in music gradually took over. Before coming to Oslo, he had studied harding fiddle, won several competition prizes and started the Vestlandsduoen together with Ellen Fredriksen. The duo made their debut on record in 1960 with Pakta, a poem by Jakob Sande set to music by Medaas. Around the same time, Medaas began a collaboration with composer Geirr Tveitt, who was immortalized in 1961 with the recording Hestehandlarar – incidentally composed by Tveitt in the back seat of a taxi on the way to the studio. Ivar Medaas met his wife Kari in 1961, and she soon replaced Ellen Fredriksen in the Vestlandsduoen. The big breakthrough came in 1963, when Medaas released Dar kæm Dampen and debuted as a revue artist at Chat Noir, where he was the first to play the Hardanger fiddle in a revue act. Throughout the 1960s, Medaas – both with and without Kari – continued to release records that became country hits and radio favorites. On the album I 4 Akter he brought his wife Kari and Dizzie Tunes.
1 Folk music comes to Norway
2 The Ex-Girlfriend
3 We Shouldn't Sleep Away the Summer Night
4 The Huldres Mow
5 The Protest Singer
6 Thank You And Price
7 Kleppe Marit
8 The Ancient World
9 Hasty wedding
10 Give Me The Land For A House
11 He Jens Wants Me
12 Ivar A La Ivar